


Rush

by TheGreatCatsby



Category: All New X-Factor, Marvel (Comics), X-Factor (Comics)
Genre: Hydra, Sibling Bonding, georgia and luna also bond, hints at remy/pietro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 21:32:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2556470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatCatsby/pseuds/TheGreatCatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team gets captured by Hydra, who have plans to experiment on Pietro's powers. Lorna thinks of ways they can escape, Doug tries to keep their minds off the situation, and Remy complains about the horrible food.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rush

**Author's Note:**

> I was prompted on Tumblr to write a story where Pietro gets experimented on and the team has to watch. So this happened. Enjoy!

“Have you ever wondered what would happen if you saw things at normal speed?” 

Pietro frowned at Lorna over the top of his coffee cup. He drank it more for taste than anything else, since the effect of caffeine was there and gone within a matter of minutes. “I don't have to wonder,” he said evenly. “I already know.”

Lorna put a hand to her mouth, remembering what he was referring to. “Sorry! Didn't think...”

“We weren't exactly in contact back then,” Pietro said. “It's okay.” 

Lorna wasn't looking at him. Pietro leaned forward. “Lorna,” he said, “if anyone should be able to ask, it's you. You're my sister.” 

“Yeah, well,” Lorna shrugged, “I need to remember not to put my foot in it. You know.” 

“I do.” 

*

“This isn't exactly my idea of spring break,” Remy said as he threw another supercharged card at the robots advancing on them. 

“But it's so nice,” Doug called from where he was, enveloped in Warlock. The team still hadn't gotten used to that. 

They were fighting on a beach just outside of Miami. Snow had called them there because, according to several of his clients that lived on the water, there had been a disturbance on the beach. Disturbance was an understatement. 

Army of robots and soldiers more accurately described the problem. And worse, they were Hydra. 

“It's like these people never die,” Remy complained as he knocked a soldier unconscious. 

“That's their thing, isn't it?” Lorna asked, and when Remy gave her a confused look and nearly got shot by one of the robots, she added, “cut off one arm and another grows back.” 

“Yeah, well, I'm not much for octopuses,” Remy muttered. Lorna tore apart one of the robots that was going to attack him and he grinned at her. “Thanks.” 

“What I'm most troubled by,” said Danger, “is what they are doing here.” 

“Prime real estate,” Remy pointed out. The beach was lined with expensive-looking houses. 

“That's not Hydra's thing,” Lorna said. “It's more like, uh...”

“Genetic cleansing,” Pietro suggested, skidding to a halt next to her and spraying sand everywhere. 

“Where've you been?” Remy snapped. 

“Clearing civilians from the area,” Pietro said. He glanced around. “And doing a far better job than you've been.” 

“The least you could do is help,” Lorna said. 

“I'll take their guns,” Pietro sighed, and he was off. Lorna tore apart another robot. 

“They're not attacking anything but us,” Lorna pointed out. “So what's--” A strangled cry cut her off and she spun around. 

One of the soldiers was making his way towards a fallen Pietro, who was on all fours in the sand, several guns scattered around him. Lorna didn't understand why, but she started to run towards him. As she did, she noticed several darts sticking out of his back. 

“Shit,” she hissed. A glowing card flew past her and hit the soldier, sending him flying. Lorna ran the rest of the way and dropped to her knees next to her brother. “What's wrong?” 

“I can't...move,” Pietro gasped. Lorna plucked the darts from his skin. 

“Danger,” she said, “I need you over here to analyze--”

“Lorna!” Pietro cried. 

Lorna spun around to see a robot charging towards them. She raised her hands, began to tear the robot apart, and then--

It exploded, throwing her back, blinding her. She hit the ground hard, and as she started to lose consciousness, she saw shadows above her. Looking down at her. 

And then, nothing. 

*

“He's Magnus' son.” 

Lorna couldn't open her eyes. She couldn't move. Whatever she was laying on felt cold and hard. And there were voices. 

“All the more reason,” a second voice said. “It will destroy him.” 

“Clearly you don't know him,” came another voice, this one familiar. Pietro. “There is no love between us.” 

“But to have his only son experimented on by Hydra,” the second voice said, “to have him dissected and exploited by his greatest enemies. Tell me that would not hurt.” 

“It wouldn't. And I wouldn't,” Pietro said, “if I were you.” 

“You will cooperate,” the first man said. “Otherwise your team will be the ones who suffer.” 

Silence, on Pietro's part. For a moment. Then, “Fine. Do what you want. As long as you don't hurt them. I'll be the one laughing when Magneto completely ignores your efforts.” 

“It will not matter,” said the second man. “We will still know the science behind your powers, and we will have unlocked even more of the mutant genome. And we can use this to aid our cause.” 

“An army of speedsters?” Pietro asked. 

No answer. The first man only said, “We'll begin now.” 

“For the record,” Pietro said, “speed is not exactly the strongest power.” 

“No,” the first man agreed, “but give speed to an army, and nothing can stand in their way.” 

“Out of curiosity,” Pietro said, “and I do think I should get to ask at least one question before we start this—how did you manage to hit me?” 

“We developed tracking darts meant to inject a tranquilizer,” the second man said. “There were more that missed. Enough hit you to take you down. The secondary attack helped. We aim to create more accurate weapons, capable of taking down even the fastest of mutants.” 

“Good to know,” Pietro muttered. 

There was the sound of a door opening, footsteps, and then a door slamming shut. 

Lorna finally managed to open her eyes. 

She was in a dark room. There were several shadows that looked darker than the rest of the room. She sat up and cringed; her muscles hurt, and she remembered being thrown. Laying on the hard floor hadn't helped. There was a small opening letting in a meager amount of light set into what she assumed was a door. She reached out with her powers but felt nothing. 

There was nothing to manipulate. 

Her eyes adjusted and she saw Doug sitting closest to the door, tucked into a corner, watching the opposite wall. Remy was unconscious a few feet away. Lorna tried to stand up to get to them, but her right hand had been chained to the wall. With non-metal chains. 

“Fabulous,” she said. 

Doug shifted his gaze to her. “Warlock and Danger are missing,” he said. 

They weren't in the room. That was worrying. 

“You don't think,” he continued, “that they took them apart?” 

“I doubt they could,” Lorna said. She didn't quite believe that, but she was willing to say anything in order to fend off panic. “They took Pietro.”

“I saw,” Doug said. “They're gonna experiment on him. What do we do?” 

“We find a way to get out. I can't manipulate any of this,” Lorna gestured around the room, “but maybe Remy can find something to throw at the door.” 

“They took away my cards, cherie,” Remy muttered. Lorna looked at him. He was rubbing his head and sitting up. “What's happening?” 

Lorna brought him up to speed. 

“I mean, I could throw our clothes,” Remy said, “but that might just irritate 'em. Wouldn't do any real damage.” He knocked on the wall. “It's too thick. It'd take a lot of blasts ta break through. And something stronger than clothes.” 

“They took anything that could possibly be useful,” Lorna said. “Damn. Okay, we'll think of something.” 

“One can only hope that Danger and Warlock are out there,” Remy said. 

“This whole thing was staged,” Doug said. “They wanted to capture us. There was nothing in Miami.” 

“I know,” Lorna said. 

“What about Georgia?” Doug asked. “She's stuck at Serval and she won't know what's going on.” 

“And Luna,” Lorna said. “Well, I'm sure they'll distract each other. And we'll be out of here soon.” 

She couldn't afford to think that they wouldn't. 

*

Back at Serval, Luna and Georgia were settling down for dinner. Both of them picked at their food and didn't seem inclined to talk much. 

“What's wrong?” Linda, Snow's PA, had been tasked with looking after them while the team was away. 

“They should be back by now,” Luna said. “Dad said it was a simple mission.” 

“You don't think something went wrong, do you?” Georgia asked. 

Linda knew for a fact that something had gone wrong. She'd seen the aftermath of the battle at the beach and knew the team had gotten captured. But they hadn't been able to track them down. 

“It's fine,” she said. “Sometimes missions take more than a few hours. Some take a few days.” 

“They would've told us,” Georgia insisted. 

“Sometimes missions get extended when it wasn't planned for,” Linda said. Luna glanced at Georgia, who sighed and looked down at her plate. 

“I guess you're right,” she said. “They'll be fine.” 

“Yeah,” Luna said, “and they'll have some good stories to tell us when they get back.” She didn't sound convinced, but Georgia didn't seem to notice. 

Linda stood up and glanced at Luna, who looked back at her. Oblivious, Georgia continued to eat. 

Luna was smart. Very smart. And Linda didn't know if she'd be able to keep lying to her much longer. 

*

A meal was tossed into the cell a few hours later. 

Doug picked up the tray with three plastic bowls and three paper glasses of water and gave the other two to Remy and Lorna. 

“Is this oatmeal?” Remy asked, grimacing. “I didn't know Hydra was a fan of oatmeal.” 

“It's part of a balanced breakfast,” Lorna said. The oatmeal was already cooling, starting to solidify. She could stand her plastic spoon straight up in the middle of the plastic bowl. “Do you think if we collect enough of these we can make a powerful enough tool to escape?” 

“If you figure out a way ta glue them all together,” Remy said. “This is awful. I'd take grits over this and I don't even like grits.” 

“Grits are disgusting,” Lorna said. 

“I don't expect you ta know fine southern cuisine,” Remy said, “but I won't let you speak such uniformed lies while I'm here ta educate you. Grits are--” 

“They jiggle when they cool off,” Doug said. “It's weird.” 

“Both of you are terrible people,” Remy said. He poked at his food. “They could've at least put some sugar in it.” 

They finished the rest of the meal in silence. Lorna kept glancing at the door. Someone would come in to take away their plastic stuff, probably. She wondered if she could get away with hiding the spoon. She wondered if the guards would notice. 

The door slammed open and a guard came in, snatching up the plastic items from the floor. Lorna palmed her spoon and watched him. He wasn't recognizable, just a generic man with vacant eyes. Just following orders. 

She hated that phrase. 

The guard reached her and frowned. “The spoon,” he said, “or your teammate is punished.” 

Lorna handed over the spoon and the guard, satisfied, left, slamming the door behind him. 

“Huh,” Remy said. “They know us too well.” 

The door opened again, suddenly, and a guard dragged Pietro into the room and chained him to the wall opposite Doug. Then he left, without speaking. 

“Pietro!” Lorna moved as far as she could towards him. He was slumped over, breathing hard, one hand clutching his chest. “What's wrong?” 

“Thirsty,” Pietro gasped. “Or hungry. Both.” 

“They didn't feed you?” Remy asked. “If I'd've known that I would've given you my disgusting dinner.” 

“What happened?” Lorna asked. 

“My powers,” Pietro said. “Used too much. Metabolism. I--” He shuddered and slumped over, unconscious. 

“Hey!” Lorna shouted at the door. “Pietro needs food! You can't just test his powers and expect him to survive on nothing but air! I know you can hear me!” 

“Don't mean they'll listen,” Remy muttered. 

“Fuck that,” Lorna snapped. “At least water! You want a test subject, you have to keep him alive, right? You're doing a shitty job!” 

The door remained stubbornly closed. 

*

The team eventually fell into an uncomfortable sleep. Lorna woke up to find Pietro watching her. He had dark circles under his eyes, but he looked more aware than he had the night before. 

“You're awake,” Lorna said. 

“Guard came to give me water last night,” Pietro explained. “How are you?” 

“Better than you,” Lorna said. She winced. “Sorry. I'm pissed off. I want to do something.” She glanced at Remy and Doug, still asleep. “I'm team leader. I should be doing something.” 

“You're thinking of a plan,” Pietro said. “They're paying so much attention to me they won't be paying any to you. Besides, it's not your fault.” 

“It is my fault,” Lorna said. “I can't think of a way to get us out and they're going to experiment on you and--”

“You're not giving up,” Pietro interrupted. 

“No, I'm not,” Lorna said. “I just need...something. Something I can use. Everything we have, everything we've been given, I can't control, and even with Remy's charge everything is too weak to do real damage. We could break through the wall if we had something stronger.” 

“I might be able to help,” Pietro said. “You don't think Remy's explosions will attract the guards?” 

“Maybe.” Lorna frowned and looked at the window in the door. “There's no glass on that. It's open.” 

“Yes,” Pietro said. “It's too small for a hand to fit through. You might be able to manage something small, like a screw or a knife. I haven't come across any, yet. They're...thorough, Hydra. They've been briefed about us.” 

“But if you found something,” Lorna said, “they wouldn't think you'd take it, would they?”

“Probably not,” Pietro said. 

Lorna felt the first stirrings of hope. “If you can get me anything metal, and preferably sharp,” Lorna said, “do it.” Pietro nodded. “And I need you to tell me what's outside the cell. Where the guards stand. How they open and close the door. I can't see anything from here, and I doubt Doug can, either.” 

Pietro nodded. “I haven't heard anything about Warlock and Danger,” he said. “Have you?” 

“No,” Lorna said. “We have to assume they're out of commission.” 

Pietro leaned his head back against the wall. “Luna is going to be beside herself. I've disappeared on her before, and I promised I'd be back...” 

“Not your fault,” Lorna told him. “I'm sure she'll understand. And Georgia, too. They'll both understand.” 

Pietro was about to respond when the door slammed open and two guards came in. One stuck him with a needle and the other undid the chain around his left wrist. And then they dragged him out of the room. 

Lorna settled against the wall. She was willing to wait. She had a plan now. 

*

Georgia marched into kitchen where Luna was eating cereal. “This is ridiculous,” she said. 

“What?” Luna asked. 

“I have a uniform,” Georgia told her. “I should be helping them, not sitting around waiting.” 

“We don't know where they are,” Luna said. “We don't even know if they're in trouble.” She bit her lip. 

“You think they are,” Georgia said. 

Luna sighed. “Yeah, but--”

“And you have powers,” Georgia said. “You can influence people. And I heard you can also sense the truth. You could find out.” 

“I can't know where they are if no one else does,” Luna pointed out. “That's the problem. I don't know and neither does Linda, or Snow, or anyone.” 

Georgia began pacing. “But we know it was Hydra. And don't you think they have trackers? We can go on the computer and see if we can track them. Can't we?” 

Luna thought about it for a moment. “I don't really know how computers work.” 

“Between the two of us we can figure it out,” Georgia said. “Come on.” 

Luna pushed away her cereal bowl. “Fine,” she said. “It'll be better than doing nothing.” She followed Georgia out of the kitchen. 

*

“You look like shit,” Remy pointed out. 

Pietro groaned. 

“You must be feeling like shit, too,” Remy added, “if you're letting me get away with that.” He sounded playful but there was an undercurrent of concern. 

Lorna wished she could help him. It had been two days. Two more days of Hydra experimenting on Pietro. Exhausting him, breaking his limits and, most recently, becoming invasive. To see what the physiology of a speedster looked like on the inside. 

There were bandages. And Pietro seemed drugged out of his mind. 

“Bread?” Lorna offered. The guards had started giving them loaves of bread, presumably to do away with the issue of them using utensils as weapons. Even if they were plastic. 

Pietro shook his head. “Not hungry,” he muttered. 

“I don't care if you're not hungry,” Lorna said. “Eat it.” She tossed it at him and it landed in his lap. He glared at her half-heartedly, but picked it up. 

“Thanks,” he muttered. 

“Better than the oatmeal, am I right?” Remy asked. 

“It was a bit stale,” Doug said. “Any information?” 

“They speak Russian, thinking I won't understand them,” Pietro said, a note of disdain breaking through the exhaustion in his voice. “They're utterly confident that there's not a thing you can do to escape. They've drained Danger and Warlock of power and are keeping them in a room next to where they do their testing on me.”

“That's good,” Doug said. 

“Better than turning them ta scrap,” Remy added. Doug looked alarmed at the idea. “What about weapons? They're cutting inta you with something.” 

“They probably wait until he's unconscious,” Lorna said. “So it'd be hard--”

“They don't,” Pietro said, “put me to sleep. They just give me enough to slow me down.” 

The team was silent for a moment. 

“Bastards,” Lorna said. 

“They secure me,” Pietro said. “take the surgical tools away before and after I get strapped to the table. But they sound so confident, they might have a lapse. I can take advantage of it.” 

“Are you sure?” Lorna asked. “We can always think up another--”

“I'm sure.” 

“Great,” Remy said, clapping his hands together. “Anything else?” 

“The door,” Pietro said, “to the cell is not guarded most of the time. Halfway down the door there is a complex deadbolt lock. The guards are told to stand outside during meal times and every other hour.” 

“Fantastic,” Remy said. “Now we got ourselves a schedule. Nice ta know they care so much.” 

“They don't care enough,” Lorna said. She glanced at Pietro, who had only eaten half the bread she'd given him. He met her gaze, then looked away. 

They needed out, and soon. 

*

“This,” Georgia told Linda, “is a database of all known Hydra bases in the world. And even some unknown.” 

“How did you get security clearance?” Linda asked. 

“I may have done that,” Luna said sheepishly. “But look! I mean, we don't know which base they could be at, but it's a start.” 

“There's over a hundred here,” Linda pointed out. “How will you narrow them down when the rest of us haven't been able to?” 

“Warlock and Danger,” Georgia said. 

“Are not transmitting,” Linda told her. “It seems they've been turned off or...” She grimaced. “I appreciate your effort, but there's not much you can do that we haven't already tried.”

“Well, the rest of you are busy, right?” Georgia asked. Linda nodded. “We can keep an eye on this, see if they start transmitting, or if any messages come through, or if anything suspicious happens. And we can keep looking.” 

“Sure,” Linda said. “It'll be good to have extra eyes on this.” She left. 

“She doesn't think we're useful,” Luna said. 

“She's wrong,” Georgia said. “We have more to lose than she does.” 

*

Two more days. Pietro could hardly talk whenever he was back in the cell, when he was conscious. Lorna stopped asking him questions and started thinking of another plan. 

She'd started keeping track of when the guards were outside. They were quiet, but using the meal times as reference, she managed to get a pretty good schedule running in her head. She had nothing better to do. One hour after the meal, an hour off, next hour on...

She wanted one of them to slip up and carry something metal with them. So far it hadn't happened. 

Pietro wasn't eating. That worried her. He was bleeding through his bandages, which looked poorly applied. That worried her, too. He was already thinner, and he always seemed glassy-eyed, drugged. But still in pain. That made her angry. 

Pietro got angry, once. He'd muttered, mostly to himself, “He's screwing up my life even when he's not here!” 

“Who is?” Remy had asked. Lorna remained silent. She already knew. 

“My father,” Pietro snarled. 

Lorna hated not having a way to lash out. So she let the anger smolder, knowing that when she got out, she could let it explode. And the guards and the people who hurt her brother, they wouldn't survive the explosion. 

She talked to Doug and Remy. Remy suggested once that they play “I Spy” but the game ended rather quickly because there wasn't much in the cell to begin with. Doug seemed to spend all him time worrying about Warlock. Remy seemed to spend his time trying not to appear concerned and failing. He kept glancing over at Pietro whenever he was in the cell. He and Lorna took turns giving Pietro their bread and water. Even if he wasn't eating. 

“I wish there was a way to reach someone on the outside,” Doug said. “Our tracking devices—why aren't they working?” 

“Hydra deactivated them,” Lorna said. “They're thorough.” 

“Merde,” Remy hissed. He turned to Doug. “Wanna teach us cusses in every language you can think of?” 

“I'm not sure you're ready for that,” Doug said with a small smile. Lorna smiled, too. 

“Cher,” Remy said, “we have all the time in the world. I'm ready.”   
*

“Luna?” 

“Hmmm?” 

“I think that's Warlock?” 

“What?” Luna scrambled out of her chair to join Georgia at her monitor. She'd half fallen asleep. They hadn't been sleeping enough. 

“That's Warlock,” Georgia said, pointing to a signal coming from Alaska. “I'm getting Linda. Take down the coordinates in case it disappears and find out what the base is like.” She slid out of her chair and ran out of the room. 

Luna squinted at the screen. “I never would've guessed there.” 

*

A week and a half had gone by, and Lorna and Remy knew a substantial amount of curse words in at least twenty-five languages. 

They'd just memorized a few in Catalan when the door opened and the guards chained Pietro to the wall. Pietro had ceased being communicative, he barely even took the water they gave him, and now Lorna could only bide her time, waiting for a guard to slip up. The doors closed. 

It was an off hour. 

“How about Tagalog?” Doug suggested. 

A scraping sound made Lorna look towards Pietro. 

He was sliding something towards her. With a final flick of his wrist, he managed to fling the object the rest of the distance so that it landed near Lorna's knee. 

A knife. A steel, surgical knife. 

Lorna picked it up and felt her powers sing. Grinning, she looked at the others. 

“It's time.” 

She used the knife tip to work at the chains. She'd done this many times before, with many different locks, and it was difficult, but a few minutes later a satisfying click told her that she'd succeeded. She moved on to unlock Pietro's, then Remy's, then Doug's, and stood up. 

“That's better,” she said, stretching. “Now, let's kick some ass.” 

She levitated the knife out the door and maneuvered it to where Pietro said the lock would be. She heard it scraping against the surface, and pressed her ear against the door so that she could better hear what was going on. Remy had crossed over to Pietro and was helping him stand. 

The door swung open and Lorna caught the knife in her hand. She gave the others a look and they followed her out of the cell. 

Hydra's base seemed empty. Lorna glanced back at Pietro, who was barely conscious, and said, “I need you to point me to where they're keeping Warlock and Danger.” 

“Down that hall,” Pietro rasped, gesturing at a corridor to their right, “first left, third door on the right.” 

“I'll get them,” Doug said. “I'll be able to get them up and running again.” 

Lorna handed him the knife. “It's not the best but...”

“It'll do,” Doug said with a small grin, and then he was off. 

Lorna turned to the other two. “We'll disable any communications they have and get weapons from the guards. I can't believe how little metal there is in this place. It's probably because of Magneto.” She sighed. “Come on.” 

They met two guards on the way. Lorna dispatched of them both and grabbed their guns. She gave one to Remy, who slung it awkwardly over one shoulder. “Not sure how good a shot I'll be,” he said. 

“You're no Hawkeye,” Pietro muttered. 

“It's 'cause you're leaning on me,” Remy pointed. 

“That doesn't matter,” Pietro said. 

“Shut up,” Lorna told them, but she was relieved that Pietro was talking. That he was teasing Remy. Being somewhat normal. 

Gun held out in front of her, she managed to take care of two more guards before they reached the room containing the facility's database. Immediately, she began tearing apart what she could with her powers, and what she couldn't, she picked up and threw around. 

“That's one way ta do it,” Remy said. 

“I don't see you offering a better solution,” Lorna snapped. “Let's find Doug and get out of here.” 

“Can you walk any more?” Remy asked Pietro. 

“I-”

“No time.” Remy dropped his gun and picked Pietro up bridal-style. 

“Wha-” Pietro started to protest, but Remy cut him off. 

“You do it enough for me,” he said sweetly, “I thought I'd return the favor.” 

“Come on,” Lorna said before Pietro could respond. 

They backtracked through the corridors and found two bleeding guards outside of one of the rooms. The room itself was empty, but there were more fallen guards further down the hall. 

“Follow the bread crumbs,” Remy said. He glanced down at Pietro, who didn't respond, because he was unconscious. “Oh.” 

“That's creepy,” Lorna muttered, but they followed the trail of unconscious soldiers until they found a door, ajar, and beyond the door...

A forest. And cold air. And the sky. 

Warlock, Danger, and Doug were standing a few feet away, waiting for them. The two robots looked perfectly fine. Doug had bloodstains on his clothes, but otherwise looked relieved. “I've sent a message to Serval,” he said. “We'll be home in no time.” 

“Would you like me to set this place on fire?” Danger asked. 

“I'd rather the authorities arrest all the people inside,” Lorna said. “I don't think Snow would be too happy if we added 'murdered an entire facility full of people' to our website.” 

Danger actually looked disappointed. 

The sound of a whirring engine made them all look up. 

Rescue. 

*

“I think he's having nightmares,” Remy said. 

“Who?” Lorna looked up from her report. She'd finally gotten around to filling out the paperwork for the Hydra mission. It was long, and unpleasant. 

“Pietro.” Remy sounded impatient. 

Lorna frowned at him. “How do you know that?” 

“My room's next ta his. Ever since he got back, I can hear, well, screaming.” He grimaced. 

“Oh,” Lorna said. She ran a hand through her hair. “He's been saying he's fine.” 

“He's also still moving at normal speed,” Remy pointed out. “Anyway, I've been waking him up and snapping him out of it but I think he needs ta, I dunno. I actually don't know. I just wanted you ta know.” 

“Thanks,” Lorna said. “Wait—you've been comforting Pietro.” 

Remy actually blushed. “I wouldn't go that far--”

“You are!” Lorna grinned. “I didn't know--”

“Know what?” Remy snapped. “There's nothing to know. I just wanted ta help him, no one should have ta go through that, and besides, now he owes me.”

“Sure.” 

“I swear, Lorna--”

“I didn't say a word,” Lorna said. “But...why are you blushing?” 

Remy stared at her. Then he stood up, and walked out of the room. 

*

“Pietro, you need ta let it out,” Remy said. He was sitting next to Pietro on his bed, rubbing his back in small circles. 

“No, Remy, I don't,” Pietro said. He teeth chattered. “I'm fine.” 

“Liar,” Remy said. “I've been doing this for several nights. I know when you're not fine.” 

“I don't know why,” Pietro said. 

“'Cause I care about you,” Remy said. Pietro stared at him. 

“What?”

“After everything, you know, being on this team for so long,” Remy took a deep breath, “I guess I don't think you're evil anymore.” 

“Thanks,” Pietro said. 

“I mean it,” Remy said. “So what's eating you?” 

“You know what it is,” Pietro said. “You saw the results. They pushed me beyond my limits and--” He swallowed. Cursed in what sounded like another language. Then added, “I was awake while they cut into me, played around with my insides. It hurt. I felt everything, it felt--” He started to shake. 

“Hey,” Remy said, pulling Pietro close to him. 

“I-I don't want to put that on Lorna,” Pietro said. 

“So you'll put it on me?” Remy asked. 

“You're you,” Pietro said. 

“Thanks,” Remy said, rolling his eyes.

“You don't have to be here,” Pietro said. 

“I'd never get sleep if I didn't interrupt your yelling,” Remy pointed out. 

“I apologize for interrupting your beauty sleep,” Pietro said. He was shaking less now. 

“I don't mind,” Remy told him. When Pietro raised an eyebrow at him he added, “honestly. I don't. But Lorna's worried about you. At least tell her something. Like it'll be okay 'cause you have the team behind you, and your daughter, and Lorna's there for you.” 

“That is horribly sentimental,” Pietro muttered. 

“But true.” 

Pietro sighed and leaned into Remy's chest. “I'm too tired to argue.” 

“That's 'cause you don't have an argument,” Remy said, grinning. 

There was no answer. 

*

“Thank you,” Lorna said. 

Pietro blinked at her. He'd been placed on the couch in Serval's common room by a well-meaning Luna, who'd gone off to make him soup since he had trouble stomaching anything else. 

“For helping me get the team out,” Lorna added, sitting next to him. “How are your powers?” She wanted to ask how he was, but knowing him, he wouldn't answer the question directly. 

“They're back, if that's what you were wondering,” Pietro said. He was talking at normal speed, for him, which made Lorna want to smile. “The drugs have worn off. I still have to rest. If I use them now, I'll re-injure myself, or exhaust myself. So they say.” He sounded annoyed about it. 

“The doctors?” Lorna said. 

“Yes.” Pietro fidgeted in his seat. “They don't really want me moving around too much.” 

“You're not hurting?” Lorna asked. 

“I'm sore,” Pietro said, bristling a little, “but I think I can manage.” 

Lorna nodded. “And the nightmares?” 

Pietro looked away. “I'm going to kill LeBeau,” he muttered. 

“He was worried,” Lorna said. “I am, too.”

“Don't,” Pietro said. “I'll move on. I always do.”

“Yeah, but--”

“Think about how you got us out,” Pietro said. “Think about how Luna and Georgia kept watch so that the minute Warlock started transmitting again, they notified Snow and had a rescue team sent out for us.”

“Why can't I think about you?” Lorna demanded. “I'm your sister.” 

“Because you have more important things to worry about,” Pietro snapped. 

Lorna groaned. “You are important!” 

“I'm talking to Remy,” Pietro said. “You don't need to concern yourself with--”

“You're such an idiot,” Lorna interrupted. “Of course I need to concern myself with you. We're siblings, and I know you worry about me more than is necessary. You weren't going to let them touch me in that Hydra base, that's how worried you were. And let's not forget how you spied on me for Alex. Like I need your protection. If I need yours, you need mine, it doesn't just work one way. I know Wanda never told you that but I'm telling you right now.” 

The silence that followed was awkward. Lorna shifted in her seat. 

“I know,” Pietro said after a moment. “I'm sorry.”

“Good,” Lorna said. 

Whatever else Pietro meant to say, if he meant to say anything at all, was drowned out by Luna calling “Soup!” She entered the room carrying a tray, on which a bowl of steaming soup was placed. She set it in Pietro's lap and he gave her a small smile. 

“Thank you,” he said. 

“It's chicken,” Luna said, sitting next to Lorna. “Georgia said chicken soup makes everyone feel better.”

“She's right,” Pietro said. 

“Can we watch TV?” Luna asked. She'd already grabbed the remote. Pietro nodded and she started flicking through channels, eventually settling on Mythbusters. 

Lorna glanced at Pietro and saw him watching Luna thoughtfully, as she became engrossed with the program. 

“I enjoy this program,” he said after a moment, like it surprised him. 

“I think you'd enjoy a lot of them if you sat still long enough to watch,” Lorna said. 

“Yes, I should get injured more often,” Pietro said. Lorna glanced at him and was relieved to see that he looked amused. 

“Shh,” Luna said. “I wanna hear about walking on water.” 

And so they settled in for what would become three hours of watching exploding science.


End file.
